The Crime of the Century Relaxation Exercise

I thoroughly enjoyed the crime of the century relaxation exercise.  I enjoyed listening to the speaker's soothing voice and I enjoyed visualizing the colors of the rainbow.  I relaxed through the breathing techniques felt the tension leave my body and I also felt rested and energized when it was over.  I will definitely use this technique in the future.

Unit Three Blog Entry – Person Centered Health

Currently, in the field of health there is very little encouragement for an individual to share their personal levels of physical, psychological, or spiritual health with their practitioner.  An emerging field in health care is integral health which encompasses not only the biological aspect of health but also the psychospiritual, interpersonal and worldly aspects of an individual’s health care needs.  Each of these areas in an individual’s health effects the others for example, if you are stressed in your daily life this stress will produce chemicals in your brain that are dispersed throughout your body and affecting each cell.  Stress can also affect the amount of food you eat and the amount of exercise you choose to complete.  When you have too much going on in your life you are less likely to take the time to stop and smell the roses or to meditate or spend time focusing on all the things you have to be grateful for in this life.  Ignoring this psychospiritual aspect of your health also causes stress levels to increase and eventually your body will react by becoming diseased, for example you may develop high blood pressure.  Your ability to cope in your interpersonal relationships may also become compromised as stress can cause a person to react inappropriately with those around them and to snap their head off so to speak!  All of these things areas affect the world around you so I thought I would use myself as an example of how to evaluate behaviors and make positive choices to place your life back on track. 

True health, all encompassing integral health, is a matter of making choices with positive intentions.  My own level of wellness; physically, psychologically, and spiritually are in need of work!

I was doing well in the physical aspect of my health up until March of this past year when I started full time college along with full time work.  I would say I am currently at a level of 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10.  I eat a large amount of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, eggs and dairy, nuts, flax seed and nutritional supplements.  The area I work on consciously is adding to the category of grains.  I am gluten intolerant so I cannot eat regular products like whole grain breads or pastas and I just got used to not including them in my diet.  I have made a conscious decision and have added whole grain rice products in the form of crackers, pastas and breads and this has worked well.  Additionally, I have added gluten free oatmeal to my morning meals.

When I started school I no longer had time to work out which I was doing five times per week.  I have decided a change was necessary as I have become winded when walking, weak when I lift certain items, I am not sleeping as soundly, etc.  I have borrowed a treadmill from a friend and I now complete my numerous reading assignments while walking on the treadmill.

I would like to say that the psychological and spiritual aspects of my health were as good as my physical health.  I would say my psychological health has diminished to a 5 as I have become somewhat of a hermit while I am attending school.  I feel this especially as I am becoming shyer when I am around other people or in a crowd.  I am happiest when I have social interactions with others.  I will make a conscious effort to go out socially with friends and work a lunch date or a nice walk with a friend into my schedule.  Spiritually, I spend time in the morning and my lunch hour listening to speakers that develop spiritual paths and principles in my life so I would rate my overall spiritual health as an 8.  However, as I age, I believe true peace and happiness come from spiritual principles and not from the trappings of possessions, as I did when I was younger, that we seem to collect while we are here living life.  I want to boost my spiritual health to 10 as that is how important I think it is in the scheme of life and overall integral health.  I also want to declutter my life of some of my possessions to promote a more peaceful feeling in my home and also to have less upkeep.  I mean really, possessions take work!  I have dabbled at meditation and have never been good at it as I have a busy mind but this is where I am going to place my focus during this project.  I am committing to myself to spend 15 minutes per day just being still and quiet and to focus outwardly on treating others with loving kindness.  I would like to get through the day being able to drive in traffic and not become upset!

Reflective Statement

A portion of my assignments for the second week in my class Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing, was to listen to and describe my experience in a reflective statement of a relaxation lesson called Journey On.  The audio lesson had a calming backdrop of soft music and the speaker had a soothing voice.  He asked us to loosen our clothing and remove any restrictive items such as a watch to further induce relaxation and to settle into a comfortable position and for a moment just feel the blood flow throughout our body. 

Of course being the Nutritionista, what fascinated me most was the narrator’s information that when we are at rest 80% of our blood flow in is the center of our body.  The center of our body contains the GI or gastrointestinal tract which fills our blood with nutrients from our food intake and is used to nourish and strengthen the rest of our body.  The other 20% of our blood flow is to our limbs or our arms and our legs when we are at rest.  The narrator brought us through the steps to feel the blood leave its concentration in the GI tract and to feel it fill our arms and fingers and thus promote a feeling of heaviness and relaxation.  My fingers felt like fat sausages, ha, and my arms felt very heavy.  My breathing slowed and I felt a sense of peace and comfort.  This exercise showed me how the power of visualization in our minds and concerted breathing can control our stress reactions in our bodies.

Welcome Statement

Welcome to my blog, Nutritionista-Nutrition for Life. I have never blogged before and would not have taken this upon myself except that it is an assignment from my instructor at Kaplan University where I am studying for a BS in Health and Wellness. This assignment is for a class called Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing. After attaining my BS at Kaplan I will further my education to include a Masters in Nutrition and eventually a PhD.  I cannot wait to become a nutritionist although I still have a long way to go!  Last semester one of my final projects was to design a supplement to cure or ease the symptoms caused by the disease of my choice using three vitamins and minerals and two herbs.  Additionally, we were to design a supplement label and I must admit the process was wonderful and I was actually giddy with excitement.  I know I have found the profession that I can become so lost in that I lose all track of time.

I feel a bit like I am participating in the movie, Julie and Julia, which was about a blogger cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking!  My blog will include cooking; however, it will focus mainly on the many aspects nutrition plays on the health and wellness of people in their mind, body and spirit. 

Welcome to my blog!!!